Perfection
by Fading into the background
Summary: One shot wherein Nanao attends a party at the 5th.


**A/N: A one shot having nothing to do with my other stories. Enjoy.**

"Momo-san, do we have to?" Nanao asked again as her friend tugged her down the street.

"Aizen Taicho only plays the shamisen so rarely, Nanao-san," her friend whined as she continued to pull her along towards the 5th division. "It's really something amazing to watch."

"Sure, but why do I have to go?" Nanao asked still protesting. It was nine in the evening on a Friday, and she'd still been at work when Hinamori found her. All she'd wanted to do was finish a few more papers and then go home since she was going to have to come into work on Saturday to finish a few more things anyway. "My Taicho plays the shamisen all the time. It isn't that thrilling."

"Yes, but Aizen Taicho is good at it," Momo said trying hard not to run back to the 5th and consequently desert her friend out of fear of missing it.

Nanao snorted. It wasn't that Kyouraku was bad at playing the shamisen, he was just generally too lazy to do it right. He'd played properly for her a few times when he was trying to get her to stop being angry with him for one thing or another and he was actually rather good. It was kind of hard not to be when he'd been put through a very aristocratic education pretty much for as long as he could remember.

"Oh, please hurry," Momo insisted. "We'll be late if you don't."

"I didn't ask you to come get me," Nanao said rolling her eyes.

"Stop being so stubborn!" Momo said. "I only wanted to get you out of the office."

"Liar," Nanao argued. "You just wanted someone to come with you so you don't look so obvious drooling over Aizen Taicho."

"I do not drool," Momo said looking offended. "I respect and admire him, and I happen to enjoy the shamisen."

"Yep, respect and admire, that's why you spent a week making soup and nursing him back to health when he caught a cold last month," Nanao said enjoying teasing her friend.

"You're one to talk," Momo huffed keeping up her relentless pace. "You go and collect Kyouraku Taicho from a different bar every other night."

"The main difference being Aizen Taicho had a very mild cold and is adult enough to take the necessary steps in order to recover, whereas my Taicho has the maturity level of a child and will get himself killed if left to his own devices," Nanao said simply.

"You don't know that as you've never left him alone long enough to find out," Momo shot back.

"You can ask the 4th if you don't believe me," Nanao said with a shrug. "The man has no sense of self preservation."

"You could send a lower seat," Momo pointed out.

"We don't pay them enough to put up with that," Nanao said honestly. "Hell, they don't pay me enough either, but then again I have access to all of Kyouraku's bank accounts, and I make sure to buy myself something extremely nice from him at every holiday."

"Nanao-san!" Momo said looking scandalized. "That's stealing!"

"It's not like he doesn't know about it," Nanao said with a laugh. "He doesn't care."

"I would never use Aizen Taicho's personal finances," Momo said. "I don't even have access to them."

"Again, that's because your Taicho isn't helpless," Nanao said wistfully. The strings of a shamisen cut her off as they entered the 5th.

"Oh! We're just in time!" Momo said grabbing her hand and tugging her towards the courtyard.

Many of the 5th division members were standing and sitting around the quad while Aizen sat upon an improvised stage. Nanao would be lying if she said he wasn't good. Aizen was technically flawless on every note. It was beautiful and very unlike her own Taicho's playing. Kyouraku was very good at the shamisen, but when he played he'd occasionally miss a note or alter a song in the middle. Aizen's was pure perfection, but Kyouraku's was emotional, heart wrenching. It was hard to say which was better.

Aizen played a few songs before other division members took over with various instruments. Nanao waited patiently, but was pretty relieved when Momo got distracted by another division member. She took it as her cue to slowly drift away and eventually hopefully escape.

She paused by the snack table someone had laid out and glanced back in Momo's direction to make sure the petite girl was still caught up with her other friends. Nanao fully planned on heading back home now, as even she couldn't talk herself into going back to the office at this hour. She'd just have to go in tomorrow like she'd planned anyway and stay a bit longer.

"Did you enjoy the music Ise fukutaicho?"

She spun around and tried to hide her surprise at finding Aizen Taicho so close to her. "Oh yes, it was wonderful. You really have a talent," she complimented.

"Nothing anyone couldn't achieve with the proper amount of practice," he said genially.

"I couldn't do that with any amount of practice," Nanao said honestly. "I've never had a flair for musical instruments."

"I find that hard to believe," Aizen said smiling softly. "From what I know of you, you're a woman that demands perfection in everything she does."

"Yes, well I leave the arts to my Taicho," she said returning the smile. "Well except for the demon arts, those are mine."

"Ah, yes, I saw your kido demonstration at the academy a few months back," Aizen said thoughtfully. "Very impressive. I'd been meaning to see if you'd mind doing a short seminar for the 5th."

Nanao blushed lightly and glanced away. "I'm sure you don't need me. You've got a good hand for kido too, and Momo is amazing."

"Yes, but everyone has their own unique style. I think it'd do the division a bit of good to see alternate methods."

"If you wish, then of course I'd be honored," Nanao said nodding. "But I really don't know how much I could help when they have a teacher like you. I haven't even fully mastered the black coffin spell yet."

"It isn't an easy spell to master," Aizen said kindly. "Is Kyouraku Taicho unable to help?"

Nanao snorted and the quickly tried to regain her composure. "It's more that he won't than he's unable. He finds most of the offensive spells disruptive of his delicate constitution, or so he says."

"Ah," Aizen said good-naturedly. "Would you like me to help?"

"I couldn't possibly impose," Nanao said hastily, worried that she'd somehow unintentionally implied that he ought to.

"It's not an imposition," he replied. "Come on, the training fields are empty, we can do it now."

"Now?" Nanao squeaked thrown off guard.

"No time like the present."

"But your party," she protested.

"The thing I have discovered about parties is that they tend to sustain themselves without much care involved," he said easily. "Follow me."

It was too much like a direct order for her not to follow so she reluctantly trailed after the kind Taicho. Nanao really would love his help, but she hated putting people out, and no matter how kind he was being she couldn't help but feel she was doing just that.

As they walked Aizen started up conversation again. "I read your report."

"My report?" she asked surprised. She tired to place what he was talking about and couldn't imagine he was referencing the report she'd had to make to the 1st the other day explaining why half of the 8th's outer wall had mysteriously been painted purple and blue. It really wasn't a very interesting report after all. When the culprits from the 8th had been questioned on why they did it, they'd simply said they were drunk and couldn't find pink paint. It said something about the 8th that this was an acceptable excuse.

"Yes, the one on the Central 46," Aizen clarified. "It was fascinating. There's so very little known about it's original origins with the Spirit King and how it operates on a day to day basis. You did some really amazing investigative work. It must have taken months going through old tomes for little scraps of knowledge."

Nanao blushed furiously at the praise and was glad the night could hide it. It was unusual to be complimented on things she actually cared about since her Taicho far preferred to wax poetically about her appearance rather than her intellect. Not that he thought she was stupid by any means, just that he had no interest in reading a stuffy old research report on boring old men as he put it. He'd informed her that if she wanted to write erotica he'd be happy to give his opinion. "It was actually quite interesting," she said realizing Aizen was waiting for a response. "I often take on long research projects, and having lived in the Runkongai, the inner workings of the Gotei 13 have always been something of a curiosity. I found it strange that so few people knew anything really at all about the main source of power within the Gotei 13. The Central 46 are the final decision on the law, yet almost everything about their operations are shrouded in secrecy. I mean if you really think about it how do we even know there still is a Central 46 or if it's just some puppet master pulling all the strings? I like to route out the truth wherever possible."

"I agree completely," Aizen said nodding as they continued to the training fields. "I'd love to read anything else you've put together too. I've found your reports to be well researched and highly engaging. It's a pity more people don't understand the kind of time and effort that must be put into a project like that."

Nanao shrugged and hoped he'd stop flattering her soon as she thought she might just die from embarrassment any minute. No wonder Momo was desperately in love with the man. He always knew the perfect thing to say. "It's really not a big deal. When you have a Taicho like mine you learn to either keep busy or expect to be dragged out on a ridiculous drunken escapade. I have more access granted in the library than he does so sometimes I can escape him in the more highly restricted sections."

"I can't imagine he likes not being able to reach you," Aizen said raising an eyebrow behind his glasses. "I'd be very worried if my fukutaicho was out of contact, and Kyouraku Taicho seems to hold you in particularly high regard."

"Oh, if he really gets desperate he can send Ukitake Taicho in after me," Nanao said with a laugh. "It's just that he learned quickly that Ukitake Taicho would not help him drag me out of the library if it was for something stupid like a late night sushi run."

"He sends you on food runs for him?" Aizen asked sounding confused as to why Kyouraku would send such a high level person to do such a menial task.

"No," Nanao clarified. "Generally he just wants me to go with him. Kyouraku Taicho doesn't particularly see the line between business and pleasure."

"Why don't you report him to the 1st?" Aizen asked curiously. "It could be considered undue harassment."

Nanao just laughed outright at that. "It's Kyouraku Taicho. It's who he is. If it bothered me enough to report then I should have changed divisions long ago."

"Have you thought about it? Changing divisions I mean."

"Sometimes when he's driven me particularly crazy," Nanao said truthfully. Actually she'd contemplated joining the 5th a few times. It'd be a nice change of pace to have a hard working Taicho, and she'd enjoy working with Momo. "But at the end of the day the 8th is home."

Aizen just hummed his agreement and stopped as they reached the middle of the empty training field. "Would you like to start by showing me how you are trying to do it right now?"

Nanao snapped into business mode and recited the spell resulting in an unstable black box that only flickered into existence for a few moments. He quickly corrected some of the stresses she'd put on certain words of the spell, and Nanao allowed herself to enjoy the conversation with a fellow kido expert. Most people couldn't hear the subtle nuances of a kido spell. Most people just screamed them and put a lot of force behind them, which could get the job done on a lower level, but not with much finesse. Aizen recited the spell for her and every syllable flowed out as perfectly as every shamisen string he'd played that evening.

She focused again and tried once more with his corrections and while it produced a steady black box, the energy spears that were meant to pierce the box didn't seem to angle right and weren't moving the way they should.

"May I?" Aizen asked politely, making a motion as if to take her hand.

"Alright," Nanao said reluctantly. She didn't know Aizen Taicho all that well and it was odd feeling him step into her personal space as he pressed his front lightly against her back and moved his own arms along hers to lead her through the movements of the spell. She shifted uncomfortably and tried to adjust to the feeling. It wasn't that she'd never been close to a man before. She'd experimented enough in her teenage years when Rangiku used to drag her out, and Kyouraku tried to infiltrate her personal boundaries whenever possible, but there was something oddly possessive and demanding in the way he handled her that she didn't like. "I think I have it," she said if only just to take a step away from his deceptively gentle hands.

She tried two more times and got similar results. A little better each time, but hardly sustaining for as long as the spell should.

He prompted her to try a third time and in the middle of the spell she felt his reiatsu pierce into her own with a medical like precision. All thought of concentration left her as Aizen's reiatsu invaded hers. She nearly screamed as it went coursing through her, sizing her up and violating her in a way she'd never experienced before. It felt like it was leaving a trail of burning frostbite in its path and she had to struggle just to breathe. Panic switched on a moment later and her reiatsu blocked and fought against his own like a wild animal in a cage. His reiatsu lashed back instantly trying to discover every corner of her soul. She physically shoved the man in her haste to get away and felt her knees go weak beneath her as his reiatsu retracted. Nanao stifled a sob and didn't bother to try to stand back up.

"I'm sorry Ise fukutaicho," Aizen said crouching down in front of her. She pulled back quickly and wound up falling on her ass in the cold grass. "I should have warned you I was going to do that. I simply wasn't thinking as that is often how Hinamori fukutaicho and I train with difficult kido. I only wanted to see how your reiatsu was forming up the spell to help." Every word and tone sounded genuine and repentant, but everything inside of Nanao screamed that it was a lie. If he was telling the truth, why not stop when she'd begun to struggle?

"It's ok," she said shakily. "I'm sorry I pushed you. I was just so surprised."

"No worries," he said giving her a weak and sorrowful smile. "I really shouldn't have done that without asking. I'm so sorry. Tell me how I can make it up to you."

"No need Aizen Taicho," she said steeling herself and climbing to her feet. "Thank you for you help, but I best be getting home now."

"Of course," he said looking chastised. "Please do come to me if I can help. I never meant to overstep my boundaries."

"Thank you, Aizen Taicho," she said insincerely and started shunpoing away not caring if it was rude.

She made it about two divisions away before she had to stop in a back alley and throw up. Nanao had made soul contact with other people before. Sometimes it happened briefly during really good sex without anyone being able to help it. It was also something her and Matsumoto had done to comfort one another after a particularly brutal field assignment years ago when many 10th and 8th division members were lost. The twining of reiatsus with someone you loved and trusted felt good, it reminded you that you were not alone, and it was deeply personal. Kyouraku Taicho had initiated similar contact with her in the past during rough times, and it'd never been an intrusion when he did. It was just a well known and implied rule that there had to be mutual consent for a reiatsu reading of that depth. Sharing reiatsu was sharing a part of your soul and for someone to forcefully take that intimacy it was more akin to rape then anything else.

Nanao shuddered again and dry heaved after her stomach was empty. It was one thing for Aizen to initiate such personal contact without thought and it was quite another the way he'd ripped through her soul. It had been like he was looking at her and measuring her inch by inch for something. Scrutinizing her and determining her worth, to be collected or thrown away at will. That had not been a gentle brush of reiatsu intending to pick up on feelings and emotions, it'd been a forced charge tearing up anything in its path to gain as much knowledge about her depths as fast as possible. He could say what he wanted with those honest eyes of his, but there had been nothing accidental about that. He'd wanted to know. She didn't know why, but there wasn't a single thing inside her that was uncertain of that fact. She wondered briefly, and with a hysterical little laugh, if she'd passed or failed his test.

Nanao started walking aimlessly and despite the warm night felt cold. Her whole being felt violated, and she wanted to go home and shower regardless of how inane the idea was and how little it would help. She just wanted to reclaim her reiatsu as her own. It took her a moment to realize that she'd unconsciously tracked Shunsui's reiatsu and was standing outside a riotous bar. She wavered at the entrance. What was she supposed to say? Aizen felt up my soul without permission, go beat him up? It wasn't like there was a law against reiatsu contact and reading, it was just considered etiquette for both parties to agree before it happened.

She turned to go, and found herself wondering what the hell she thought she was doing as she entered the bar a few moments later despite her desire to leave. It couldn't be helped. She felt sick inside and like her own reiatsu wasn't fitting like it was supposed to. Something in her couldn't help following the warmth that was her Taicho's controlled power.

Nanao found him in the back of the bar surrounded by women leaning in from each side. He was obviously in the middle of a story and all the women burst into tinkling laughs as one. She stood off to the side for a moment trying to calm the racing of her mind, but couldn't decide what to do now that she was there. She closed her eyes and wished she didn't feel so warped out of shape.

"Nanao-chan?" Her eyes snapped open to meet her Taicho's dark brown ones and she saw the worry that lurked there. "What are you doing here?"

"Had to make sure you weren't passed out in a corner," she said trying to sound harsh, but despairing as her voice cracked like she was going to sob on the last word.

"Nanao-chan," he said lightly for the benefit of anyone else listening in, but she could identify the panic creeping into his tone. "I'm alright. Sorry ladies, I have to go walk a straight line outside to convince her I can keep drinking." He winked at them and they swooned, and then he placed a hand on her lower back to lead her out the door. She could practically feel the anxiety radiating off of him when she failed to smack him away.

They stopped in the darkened alley off to the side of the bar and Nanao tried to steady herself before she spoke and had her voice betray her again.

"What happened?" he asked seriously.

"I'm ok," she said. "It was stupid. I came here impulsively. I'm sorry to have been a bother. Go back inside and enjoy yourself."

"It's impossible to enjoy anything when I'm worrying about you," Kyouraku said. "Now tell me what's going on."

Unable to form the words and still feeling cold and sullied Nanao simply brushed her reiatsu lightly against his own. His eyes widened in surprise, Nanao having never been the initiator of this sort of contact before, but he let her in without hesitation and she answered the unspoken invitation by allowing her own reiatsu to twine with his and sink into every particle unconstrained.

It felt like the first day of spring when everything was new and warm and had the promise of good things in the air. That's how his soul always felt to her. Oh she could sense the dark pockets, the little hints of lingering winter, knew they were there as keenly as the joy, but it didn't override the extreme sense of well being she always had when wrapped up in him. The frostbitten pieces of her soul seemed to thaw under his influence and she felt all the parts starting to melt back into place again. She saw him frown as he obviously sensed the wrongness lingering around her, and she shuddered as he stepped closer to her.

Nanao sank smoothly into Shunsui's arms and the steady thump of his heart under her ear helped to calm her agitated soul. He melded their reiatsus together further than he'd ever dared to before and she simply sighed and let him in. This was by far more personal than the brief flashes that tended to occur during an orgasm, as it was intentional and lingering, and Nanao knew they were probably crossing yet another line. It couldn't have been a very good line though, if crossing it felt this right. In a few minutes Shunsui had helped her put herself back together again, because if there was anyone that knew her almost as well as she knew herself it was him.

"Tell me what happened," he murmured into her hair.

She simply shook her head and pressed closer to him again. It was too stupid even to tell. As she felt the last effects of Aizen's searching seem to drift away it was hard to even remember why she'd been so upset. Like a nightmare that fades upon waking. Now she just felt languid and relaxed and maybe a little turned on which was annoying because there was no way he wasn't aware of it being this closely wrapped up with her.

"Something obviously happened," he said.

"It was stupid," she said finally. "Someone was rude. I was just thrown off balance is all."

"Who was rude, Nanao-chan?" he asked, and while the tone was calm she felt one of those darker pockets of his soul rise a bit and send shivers coursing through her own. Oh yes, the danger was there.

"Have you ever done this with anyone without asking permission first?" she asked enjoying the feeling of their now synchronized heart beats.

"Of course not," Kyouraku said. "Not even I would cross that personal boundary." Then he seemed to think about it further and added, "Is that how this person was rude? Did they touch your reiatsu like this?"

She didn't answer knowing it'd be useless to lie when they were connected the way they were and not wanting to tell the truth all the same. He figured it out on his own though, and she felt his indignation tingle from the top of her head to the tips of her toes.

"Who, Nanao?" he demanded.

"Everything is fine," she said softly.

"Why won't you tell me?" he asked quieter. "Was it someone you were sleeping with?"

She laughed and trailed her fingers along the edge of his open uniform enjoying the thrill it gave him and which she could feel through their connection. She couldn't even being to imagine what sex must feel like with someone you were comfortable enough to link to throughout the whole process and not just accidentally at the end. To literally be able to feel how much your partner wanted you and enjoyed being with you and experience each other's climax must be something else entirely. The thought made her squirm and she felt him pull her tighter as he must have felt the heat rise in her reiatsu. Honestly, she probably would have slept with him ages ago if she thought he was capable of a casual relationship, but Kyouraku Shunsui was a man that despite all appearances was in love with being in love. She just couldn't bring herself to break his heart that way. If she ever did sleep with him she was going to have to be prepared for the long haul, and frankly she just wasn't there yet.

"It wasn't someone I was sleeping with," she said finally. "I shouldn't have bothered you with this. I was being silly, and I was exhausted from work is all. You should go back in. They must be looking for you."

"People shouldn't do this," he said, caressing her spirit with his own for emphasis and nearly making her purr, "without consent. And they should most definitely not leave marks on what isn't theirs to mark."

So he had noticed the warped injured parts of her. She knew he must have, but it made her feel better that there had actually been damage and it hadn't been all in her head. "It won't happen again," she said confidently. Kido help be damned, she had no intention of letting Aizen get that close to her for a second time. She started to gently retract her own reiatsu and he did the same, slowly severing the connection. She stepped away from his arms and wondered if the cold was due to the lack of body heat or the lack of reiatsu.

"You should come in for a drink," he offered trying to lighten the mood.

"I have to get home," she said shaking her head. "Early day tomorrow."

"Doing what?" he asked.

"Paperwork of course," she answered rolling her eyes.

"It's a Saturday, Nanao-chan," he scolded. "Forget the paperwork and join me, Jyuu, Ran, and Retsu-san, for a picnic."

"I would if I could, but I can't. I have to have all of this work done by Monday morning. Enjoy the night and the picnic Taicho," she said easily.

"You work too hard."

"And you work too little."

"Come out with us tomorrow."

"Can't," she replied with a laugh. It seemed odd that only a short time ago she'd been heaving in a dark alley. "Goodnight Taicho."

"Goodnight Nanao-chan," he said fondly before they went back to their separate lives.

* * *

Nanao went into work late the next morning. She may be working on a Saturday, but she sure as hell wasn't going to get there early. The office was empty as she wandered in a little before the lunch hour, which wasn't shocking since no one else in the 8th would be caught dead in the office on a Saturday. Sighing she pressed the office door open further with her hip and made her way over to her neatly organized desk.

She paused briefly to contemplate whether or not her stack of to do papers had moved. She was pretty sure she'd left them in the upper right hand corner of her desk and they were now sitting squarely in the middle of it. Curiously she circled around her desk and glanced down at the forms.

They were all filled out. Not in the nicest handwriting ever, but they were definitely legible and for the most part done correctly. She flipped though the entire stack and found every single paper completed. They weren't perfect, but they would do. Nanao grinned and shook her head. It was really entirely unnecessary.

A few minutes later she found herself strolling under the cherry trees in the Seireitei's public gardens following the sounds of happy voices and drinks being poured. She really shouldn't be there regardless of the fact that she didn't have work. Joining him for social outings would just be encouraging things she didn't want to encourage, but she just couldn't help herself. Kyouraku Taicho was home. Neither of them had really meant to feel that way about each other, but now it was an unchangeable fact and had been for years. Where one of them went the other followed.

Nanao rounded a corner in the path and saw the picnic blanket all laid out and the four friends already drinking up. Kyouraku noticed her first. She knew it the second she saw him twitch with his back to her that he'd sensed her reiatsu, but he allowed Rangiku to call out to her before he acknowledged her. Had he simply turned around and greeted her first everyone would have harassed them about being constantly on the lookout for one another's reiatsus. It was something old married couples had the tendency to do. Shockingly, Kyouraku only liked to embarrass her in overt ways, not ones that would actually expose their levels of intimacy. They were both aware that people had their theories and bets, but there was no need to give them legitimacy until they were both good and ready. Let people wonder.

"Nanao-chan!" Rangiku yelled waving enthusiastically. "Shunsui-kun was just telling us about the horrible stack of paperwork he braved in the hopes that you would come."

"Well, I did say I would if I could," she said smiling benignly and taking the empty spot that had been created next to her Taicho.

"And did my Nanao-chan get enough rest?" Kyouraku asked, although the intensity in his eyes implied he was asking more than if she'd just slept well.

"I'm ok," she answered honestly and brushed her reiatsu against his own with a delicate feather's touch that she hoped no one else would notice.

"Then my Nanao-chan must have a drink!" he cooed, obviously set at ease by her reassurance.

"Maybe just one," she sighed and the two resident alcoholics cheered.

"Yes, I haven't been able to get her to drink in a couple years," Rangiku said happily. "Drunk Nanao is the best. She does all sorts of naughty things."

"Oh, like what?" Kyouraku asked curiously.

"Well, like the one time we were in the 5th district and these guys asked us to flash them, and-" Matusmoto was quickly cut off by Nanao's glare. "Er, maybe another time."

"Come on, Nanao-chan," her Taicho wheedled. "I want to hear the end of the story. Did you flash them?"

"I most certainly did not," Nanao said primly. "Eat your vegetables and mind your business," she reprimanded glancing down at his plate.

"Bribe me with a story," he commanded.

"I didn't flash them," she said with a glare, which was true. She'd actually grabbed Matsumoto's shirt and lifted it. She'd apologized for that one for a week, but Rangiku had laughed it off every time saying it was her own fault for getting Nanao so drunk by spiking her drink with extra alcohol all evening.

"Ran-chan," he whined over to the other woman. "What really happened?"

"Shunsui-san, I like my eyebrows not burnt off too much to tell you," Rangiku said with a wink. Everyone laughed and the conversation devolved into stories about various pranks that had been played over the years.

Nanao listened half-heartedly and nursed her drink. The wind picked up and Nanao watched the cherry blossom petals dance down through the air and across the grass to a meandering path through the gardens. Aizen Taicho and Momo were walking up it trapped deep in a conversation. Nanao hadn't even realized she moved until Shunsui shifted quizzically and she found herself pressed completely into his warm side.

"Nanao-chan?" he whispered, letting the rest of the group continue to be distracted by their own conversation. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," she answered despite being completely unwilling to leave the proximity of his contained reiatsu. It might be pathetic, but it was still too raw for her to take the chance that Aizen might try to enter upon noticing her. "It's just a bit cold," she offered lamely.

"Nanao-chan is welcome to snuggle whenever she wants," he teased quietly, having enough sense to know she was lying and that if he announced anything loudly she'd be three feet away from him before he could finish the sentence and anyone could notice.

"Idiot," she muttered, but she felt his reiatsu spread just a touch to encompass her more fully and she was grateful for it.

Aizen and Hinomori continued their walk without becoming aware of their little picnicking group and Nanao was intensely thankful. She watched them from the corner of her eye and noticed that Aizen even walked perfectly. Everything about that man exuded humble flawlessness in a way she'd never found creepy before, but now couldn't seem to stop observing.

Momo skipped along at his side like a faithful puppy and you could see the worship in her eyes. Who wouldn't worship perfection? Nanao had no doubts Momo would die a hundred deaths before she'd let anything touch her Taicho, which was honorable enough as Nanao would do the same. The only difference she could think of was that her Taicho wouldn't let her die a hundred deaths for him, she wasn't so sure about Momo's.

Nanao glanced back up at her Taicho inconspicuously. He was sitting complacently and sipping his sake letting the conversation flow around him. He wasn't one to sit quietly, but Nanao had a feeling he was doing it more so to not draw attention to the two of them while she basically curled like a child with a nightmare into him. It really was silly to be acting the way she was, as Aizen was unlikely to try anything with witnesses around, but it'd frightened her to learn how truly helpless she was against a Taicho level shinigami. If Aizen wanted to rip through her soul again, she could fight it, but she definitely couldn't stop it. No point in living in fear though, she consoled herself logically, she'd avoid him when possible and deal with it if it ever did happen again no matter how ineffectually.

She pulled away from Kyouraku's side and he eyed her discretely before sending his reiatsu to press against her own. Nanao let him in for the briefest of moments and smiled as his reiatsu tickled hers. She batted him away with her own spiritual pressure and gave him a playful glare just for good measure.

Then the moment was over and Kyouraku was suddenly back in the thick of conversation, leaving her in peace to nibble on her food and relax. Well, that was until Kyouraku made a particularly emphatic gesture with his sake cup still in hand and managed to splash it down the length of her arm on accident. She jumped in surprise and cursed the fact that she'd not worn her uniform today leaving her arms bare and open to just such mishaps.

"Kyouraku Taicho," she growled.

"Stay still, Nanao-chan, you're wasting the sake," he whined trying to grab for her as she reached for the napkins.

"It's already wasted, you dolt," she argued.

"Not if I lick it off you," he challenged and wiggled his eyebrows at her perversely.

"Get your tongue away from my arm," she shrieked as he stuck out his tongue and tried to tackle her.

"But there's perfectly good sake at stake, Nanao-chan," he whined as he tried to wrestle her down while she kicked and shoved his face away. He licked her hand and she yelped, removing the hand from his face and instead using a plate to block him as he loomed over her.

"Somebody help me already," she grumbled.

"Man has a point," Rangiku said giggling. "Can't waste sake."

"Shunsui, you're going to crush her," Jyuushiro put in feebly.

"She can handle me," Shunsui argued suggestively.

"Get off," Nanao yelled triumphantly as her free hand closed around the open bottle of sake lying near her. "Or the rest of the sake gets it."

"Nanao-chan wouldn't," Shunsui said narrowing his eyes at her.

"Watch me," she answered with a vindictive smile.

"Yare, yare, don't do anything rash," he said climbing off of her and sitting back down pouting. "Now be a good girl and put the sake down."

"Not till I clean my arm off," she said with a snort, switching the sake bottle to her sticky hand and reaching for the napkins.

"No fun," Shunsui complained.

"I'm sure there will be a girl at the bar you frequent tonight who will let you lick sake off of her," Nanao said rolling her eyes.

"I don't want random girl sake, I want Nanao-chan sake," he said sulkily.

"Not going to happen," she said with a laugh, and it probably wouldn't, at least not anytime soon.

"Nanao, you're clean now, give the little one back," Rangiku said plaintively putting out her hands for the sake bottle.

"You're both alcoholics," Nanao complained as she handed it over.

"Dashingly handsome ones," Shunsui said.

"Charmingly beautiful ones," Rangiku corrected.

"Amazingly attractive, highly intelligent ones," Shunsui put in grinning. This of course launched the world's largest game of putting positive descriptions before the word alcoholic.

Sometimes Nanao didn't even know why she tried. She dipped a napkin in her water and continued to try and remove the last of the sake from her arm while they continued. It was true, her Taicho was nowhere near perfect, but Nanao was beginning to think perfection was vastly overrated.

"Nanao-chan, what's a word that means the same thing as peerless?" Kyouraku asked running out of adjectives for their game.

"Irreplaceable," Nanao offered quietly. And he certainly was.


End file.
